The anti-Trump Lincoln Project has been funneling donations back to companies owned by its founding members, the Washington Examiner reported on Tuesday.
Documents filed with the Federal Election Commission and obtained by the outlet show the political activist group paid close to $7 million to consulting firms led by top Lincoln Project officials. The group spent $4 million last election cycle on ads promoting Vice President Kamala Harris and opposing President-elect Donald Trump.
The Lincoln Project was founded in 2019 by individuals claiming to be disenchanted Republicans who created the organization to "protect the American Republic from Donald Trump and those who identify (publicly or privately) as MAGA supporters."
Wade Miller, executive director of conservative think tank Center for Renewing America, said, "A group of people pretending to be conservatives 10 years ago set up a grift operation mostly funded by lifelong Democrats in order to attack conservatives. If you blindly looked at their public communications, you'd think they were Black Lives Matter."
A breakdown of the Lincoln Project's finances shows they gave $2.1 million to Lever Communication, the media agency of their senior adviser Joe Trippi; $1.5 million to Third Act Media, which cites Lincoln Project creative adviser Ben Howe as a staff member; and $757,800 to Summit Strategic, led by the group's co-founder Reed Galen.
The group also paid close to $392,000 to former Lincoln Project adviser Tara Setmayer's firm Veracity Reigns, while Lincoln Project adviser Stuart Stevens's company Message Mountain was paid $535,000 for "political strategy consulting."
Miller slammed the group financial kickbacks, saying, "One easy path to financial security seems to be to carry water for the Dengist communists on the Left if you are willing to cast aside your dignity and honor for it."
The Lincoln Project has been hit with their share of bad publicity since their founding. In 2021, 21 men accused the co-founder John Weaver of sexual harassment, and last month, the group was sued by Trump official Chris LaCivita, saying he was publicly defamed by various posts leading up to the 2024 election.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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